Give it to me straight...

As others have said, this is the best thing I have ever done for myself.  Having said that, I still have the food and head issues I had prior to the surgery.  Recovering from being almost 300 lbs. is more emotional/spiritual than physical.  If you follow the guidelines given to you by the WLS program, the physical recovery will take care of itself.  I had to get to a point, prior to the surgery, where I was ready to make a lifelong committment to this process.  The first year or so, as I lost the weight, I was on a pink cloud and, except for a very few, very brief moments, things were relatively easy.  When I got to maintenance, things got more challenging.  It's not like reaching the end of a diet and going back to old habits.  It's continuing the same practices and finding the balance.  I did ok for awhile, then got complacent and drifted away from the tools I was using, and, of course, I gained some weight back.  Luckily, I was able to get back on track before I outgrew my clothes, and have since lost some of the weight.  I continue to use the tools given to me - the restriction of my sleeve, eating dense protein and low carb, drinking lots of fluids, writing down my food, weighing myself frequently, if not daily, and coming here (and to the maintenance discussion group) to keep myself accountable.  Is it worth it?  YES!!!!!!  I was just existing before.  For the past 3 1/2 years I've been living life.  I am more active, my clothes fit year to year, my family is thrilled, and I even started taking a dance class 3 weeks after surgery, at age 56, and will be in my 4th recital next month.   At the info session I went to about WLS, they said success after 5 years, losing weight the traditional way, is only 2%.  For those having had WLS, the success rate is 70%.  So, most of us succeed, but it takes work, as the sleeve is a tool, not a magic bullet.  But, for me, it was a very powerful tool that allowed me to do the other work needed.  I remember being on the other side of surgery, wondering the same things as you.  But it was and still is so, so worth the effort.   Best of luck and hugs to you!   Mary

it is all very simple if you follow your surgeons plan you will lose weight , everyone loses at a different rate

1 year after surgery you will only be able to eat around 1 cup of food at a time , most of that has to be high protien

if you go off plan and have ice cream cookies cake you will gain

 for it to work right all you need to do is stay on plan 98% of the time

 your meals will need to be planned , they tend to get redundant ( eggs for breakfast most days , ham or turkey for lunch , chicken for diner )

 you will need to take vitamins  and calcium pills , and drink the normal amount  of water 65 oz (8 cups)

 exercise helps, not to burn calories  but to raise your metabolize  and tone your muscles  

You've gotten some great input from other posters. There are some things I'd like to point out about my own journey and what it has boiled down to for me.

The physical part was pretty easy. Sure it was surgery, but recovery was smooth. I was able to stay hydrated easily and never had any issues nausea. The weight came away really easily the first 6 months  - just melted off. My restriction was incredible and I could eat very little and loved that! By six months post op my weight loss slowed a bit and I had to buckle down to get the last bit off. I was at goal in 7 months 11 days. Success!

Maintenance brought on the emotional side of eating that I thought I had discarded with the surgery. I found that to stop losing weight I "needed" to eat some slider types of foods. Well, that got the old tapes playing and gradually I gained more weight than I hand intended (I did have some intentional gain back). I struggled, for lack of a better word, with my eating for about 18 months not recognizing how deeply rooted in emotions my eating behaviors were. In hindsight, I realized that my post VSG eating had merely been a diet and not a lifestyle change.

My biggest issue has not been physical at all. It's been dealing with the emotional aspect of eating. Honestly, I have to say that without VSG I'd still be obese and without the awareness I have now. The knowledge I have gained about myself and my eating and obesity is incredible. Yup, I've gained back a bit of weight, but I'm far from obese. I'm healthy, active and overall far happier and confident than I was 3+ years ago.

If you want me to take a stab at what that gnawing little voice is telling you when it says you will be the ONE person this does not work well for, it's this: There is a part of you that knows the 180 degree shift you have to make in your food life to be successful - even with VSG as a tool - and that is scary as hell! It is hard work. If weight loss and keeping the weight off was easy, we wouldn't need WLS. With commitment and a fantastic tool like VSG, a good plan, and a willingness to learn a new way to embrace life, you will do fantastically well.

The uncertainty you are feeling is very normal and common just before having surgery - especially with people who self pay. Take a deep breath. Relax, and let yourself be enveloped by the potential of the life on which you're about to embark.

You have been struggling with this decision for a long time.  It's a shame you are still so unsure and question if you're doing the right thing.  I was gung ho from the start.  I'd hate to see you go through with the surgery and then regret it because "it's not what you thought it would be".  It takes real commitment to make the program work.  If you don't stick to your surgeon's program, you will regret it.  You see posts sometimes of people who "test" their pouch, or don't drink enough water, or are sick of protein shakes, etc.  If you don't go in with a positive attitude, you're likely to not make the effort to get all your fluids in, or avoid the shakes and not get enough protein in, or have "just a bit" of chocolate, etc.

I'm not sure what to tell you.  Have you spoken to a counselor?  Can you go to some support group meetings where post-ops talk about their experience?  For me, post-op life is great - but there are definitely challenges.  There are days when I just want to "chuck it all" and put my face in a bowl of pasta!!!    But I don't, because it is so not worth it!  

Good luck.

Mary

The surgery itself, for me, was extremely easy. I didn't take any pain meds and never had any pain to speak of. Gas was the only problem.

I am 46 years old and have been overweight since I was 18 after having my first child. I have been on "diets" many, many times and my husband and I have always said that I could gain weight on 500 calories a day, so I just knew that this surgery would be really hard for me to lose weight even with the limited amount of food I eat. And every time I go 4 or 5 days without losing anything I feel like im done completely and I get a little rattled. But it starts again and I breathe a sigh of relief until the next time...

I still have head hunger. We went to Disney for vacation last week and I told my husband that was the hardest part about the surgery for me. Watching everyone else eat whatever yummy thing they want and not being able to have any. But then when I got home I had lost 2 lbs while on vacation!! AND went down a size in clothes.

Its not all roses but I would definitely do it again and its worth any discomfort that I had.

Good luck!!

Well.. I feel like my blog is the real nitty gritty of life after sleeve.  It's -my- real nitty gritty at least.  

I think we all probably feel "I'm the one person this won't work for" when we're pre-op.  And, the truth is, none of us are that special that we'll be the outlier.  ;)

Having this procedure was the best thing that I have ever done. I wouldn't have had this 10 years ago, because I don't know if I would have had the discipline long term to adhere to the plan. I lost 65# on NutriSystem in my 20's but gained the weight back and then some after 4 years. I hope the this tool will last a lifetime if I follow my plan.

I am 52 and have lost 50 pounds in 12 weeks. I  have another 40 pounds to go. I have always exercised, but have had a "beige diet"... Pasta, rice, potatoes.

My hurdle will be changing behaviors which I have already done... Not eating as soon as I get home from from work, taking time to assess my level of hunger before I eat, that sort of thing.

The benefits of the surgery are too numerous to mention even at 12 weeks.

My surgery was a breeze and the recovery easy. I was at the gym on the treadmill on my 5th post operative day.

As they say nothing tastes as good as being thin and healthy.

Also think long and hard before committing to the surgery as there is no going back. Once you stomach is removed that is it. Also think about what your intentions for having the surgery are and be honest. Yes, I Wanted to improve my health, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I love the way my body is looking these days.

Best of luck in your journey!

I get it. I, too, had concerns it wouldn't work for me. I stuck with the program, though, and that's what it takes.

A day in the life: After hitting goal on 6/13/14 (366 days after surgery), I just cruised. I popped back up two pounds and stayed there but it was fine because it was below my redline weight. I had stopped working out regularly after my trainer was fired in March of 2014. Then I stopped journaling. I still weighed every day. My weight suddenly popped up 5 pounds after the 2014 holidays. I halfheartedly thought about stopping it, figuring it would go back down. Then it popped up two more in February. Enough was enough.

Long story short, I have joined a new gym and am working with a new trainer. I'm back to journaling daily. I'm tracking everything, but once those bad habits creep in, they're certainly hard to push back out. This is what weight loss and maintenance looks like. A day in the life now looks very much what a day in the life looks like since about August 2013 when I started solids. I don't call it dieting, I DO call it doing the right thing and I realize I have to keep it on the straight and narrow. I will forever be a recovering fat person.

That said, I'm still in my size 10-12/M-L clothing and wouldn't change a thing in the past 2.5 years since I started investigating.

Laurie

Well I'm approaching a year out from surgery & I have no regrets. I chose the surgery that works best for me & life post op is definitely better., at least for me it is. My surgery was ok, no complications, & all I had a problem with was nausea immediately after surgery, but it went away after medication. I stayed with my drs plan for me & have done pretty well.

I didn't have the doubts of maybe it'll work for everyone else & not me, my reasoning was if I ate around my sleeve or if I developed complications arising from surgery, then maybe it wouldn't work.

I know I still deal with head hunger sometimes, or wanting to eat down my emotions sometimes, but that's the only things that I've become more aware of post op & if I want this to work I can't fall back into old habits. I still have a sweet tooth but I can satisfy it without going off the deep end, & I make myself more aware if I feel like I'm going that way. I also learned to forgive myself more that if I fell off the wagon all is not lost & I can get right back to business.

I'm also more active now, never in the past I would've been thinking of ways that I could get my 10 thousand steps in, which I go for on most days now if my knees & ankles decide to be cooperative. I've always liked the gym, but not so much at 300+ pounds, but I like it much more now.

Kudos to you for getting the surgery, & I wish you the best on your weight loss journey.

No one, not even your surgeon, will be able to convince you to have this surgery if you have serious doubts about its efficacy for you. I got a lap-band 10 years ago, and it was a complete bust. Not only did I not lose weight, I gained 50 more pounds over the ensuing years.

Last July, in desperation at how unhealthy I had become because of my weight, I searched the Internet to see if researchers had made any significant improvements with the band, but all I saw was "sleeve, sleeve, sleeve." I started reading about it but had the same doubts you have now. Would it work for me? After the band experience, I was skeptical. However, because my insurance required 6-months of nutritional counseling before the surgery, I decided to start the pre-op requirements and make up my mind in the meantime. 

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that, even if it turned out the sleeve didn't work for me, I had to give it a chance. At my height (5'1") and weight (275 pounds high weight) and age (63), and a host of serious co-morbidities, it would be more dangerous for me if I didn't have the surgery. My health was going down the drain, and I felt strongly that I could not live like this much longer. 

As it turned out, like so many posters noted, the sleeve does work. At three months post-op, I've lost a third of my excess weight. Even if I were not to lose any more (though I will), I already consider the sleeve a success. My health, mobility, and morale have improved beyond my expectations.

There's no reason to believe these good things will not happen for you. You can change your mind right up until they push the anesthesia in the OR.

psychoticparrot